Yesterday, when I played a song by Barry Manilow for my friend Carolyn, a couple of people, including Carolyn herself, mentioned Billy Joel and I started thinking that it’s been a while since I’ve played a Billy Joel song. Turns out, I’ve already played four of his this year, and we’re not even halfway through the year! Still, by that time, I had Billy Joel on my mind, so I decided to play this one that I haven’t played since back in 2019! I like the rhythm, like the video, like most everything about it and I hope you will, too!
Released in 1983, Uptown Girl was conceived on an occasion when he was surrounded by Christie Brinkley, Whitney Houston and his then girlfriend Elle Macpherson.
“The song was originally called ‘Uptown Girls’ not ‘Uptown Girl.’ I know its associated with Christie but when I started to write that song I had recently divorced prior to meeting her, all of the sudden I’m a rock star and divorced. All these women were going to go out with me.”
He married supermodel Christie Brinkley less than two years after this song was released, but he wasn’t even dating her when he started writing the song. Joel also said that the song was inspired by the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. He and Christie divorced after just nine years.
This charted at #1 in Canada, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, and #3 in the U.S.
Uptown Girl Billy Joel
Uptown girl
She’s been living in her uptown world
I bet she’s never had a backstreet guy
I bet her mama never told her why
I’m gonna try for an uptown girl
She’s been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she’s looking for a downtown man
That’s what I am
And when she knows
What she wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind
She’ll see I’m not so tough
Just because
I’m in love with an uptown girl
You know I’ve seen her in her uptown world
She’s getting tired of her high class toys
And all her presents from her uptown boys
She’s got a choice
Uptown girl
You know I can’t afford to buy her pearls
But maybe someday when my ship comes in
She’ll understand what kind of guy I’ve been
And then I’ll win
And when she’s walking
She’s looking so fine
And when she’s talking
She’ll say that she’s mine
She’ll say I’m not so tough
Just because
I’m in love
With an uptown girl
She’s been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she’s looking for a downtown man
That’s what I am
Uptown girl
She’s my uptown girl
You know I’m in love
With an uptown girl
My uptown girl
You know I’m in love
With an uptown girl
My uptown girl
You know I’m in love
With an uptown girl
My uptown girl
You know I’m in love
With an uptown girl
Last night, when I played Elton John’s “Nikita”, at least three of my readers noted that they preferred “Leningrad” by Billy Joel. I hadn’t heard that one, so I went and listened and … it made me sad, as some songs just naturally do. Sometimes that’s okay, but not tonight … I don’t need any more sad at the moment. However, I did decide that some Billy Joel is in order for the day, and so here is one I only played once back in 2019!
Billy Joel wrote this song about his first wife, Elizabeth, whom he was married to from 1973-1982. When they first got together, she was still married to Joel’s drummer Jon Small. Billy was so tormented by his affair that he made a halfhearted attempt to kill himself by drinking furniture polish. Ironically, the rocker was saved by the very man he was betraying when Jon Small rushed him to hospital.
Joel’s then-wife Elizabeth was also his manager and worked in the music industry at a time when very few women did. Billy saw her take a lot of gruff in the working world and get called a lot of names, which led to him writing this song to defend her, in a way. He explained: “If you look at the structure of the song, it says, ‘she can do this to you, she can do that to you, but she’s always a woman to me.’ That was the point of the song: they’re bitching about her, and I’m saying, you can bitch all you want, she’s great at business and she comes home and she’s a woman with me.”
When the American singer-songwriter Pink married motocross racer Carey Hart in Costa Rica, she walked down the aisle barefoot accompanied by this song. She was always a huge Billy Joel fan, and she got the chance to perform this song with her idol in 2014 at a Billy Joel town hall event hosted by Howard Stern. “I got to see my dad become happy when your songs came on, and we sang them together,” she told him. “It’s changed my life. When I sit down to write a song, my first thought is, ‘this is going to suck, and I’m never going to be Billy Joel.'”
This one rose to #12 in Canada, #17 in the U.S., and #29 in the UK.
She’s Always a Woman Billy Joel
She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child but she’s always a woman to me
She can lead you to love, she can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth but she’ll never believe you
And she’ll take what you give her as long as it’s free
Yeah she steals like a thief but she’s always a woman to me
Oh, she takes care of herself, she can wait if she wants
She’s ahead of her time
Oh, she never gives out and she never gives in
She just changes her mind
And she’ll promise you more than the garden of Eden
Then she’ll carelessly cut you and laugh while you’re bleeding
But she brings out the best and the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself ’cause she’s always a woman to me
Oh, she takes care of herself, she can wait if she wants
She’s ahead of her time
Oh, she never gives out and she never gives in
She just changes her mind
She is frequently kind and she’s suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases, she’s nobody’s fool
But she can’t be convicted, she’s earned her degree
And the most she will do is throw shadows at you
But she’s always a woman to me
Every now and then my friend Jerry sends me a suggestion for a music post. Now, for the most part he and I are not of the same mind when it comes to music, but every so often he hits on one that I like, too! A couple of nights ago we were chatting via text messages when he suggested this song by Billy Joel. At first I couldn’t really remember the tune, though the title rang a bell. But when I listened, oh yes, I remember the song! But I had no idea of its background, so curious, I headed to Wikipedia and SongFacts and found that this song was quite controversial back in the day! According to SongFacts …
Many musicians join bands to meet girls, but few overachieve the way Joel did, dating models and even marrying one of them (Christie Brinkley). Virginia Callaghan was the first of these girls who thought differently of Joel after seeing him perform. Billy explained to Uncut in 1998: “I originally started in bands just to meet girls – it was round the time The Beatles first hit America – but I didn’t know you could actually make a living out of it. My first gig was in a church, about ’64 – we did Beatles songs, and this girl I had a crush on, Virginia Callaghan, who normally wouldn’t look twice at me, just stared at me through the whole gig. And I thought, ‘This is so cool!’ And then all these other girls were lookin’ at me as well. Then, at the end of the night, the priest comes up and gives us like 15 dollars apiece, which in ’64 was a fortune! Girls and money! Man, I was hooked.”
This didn’t do very well until church officials around the US heard it and condemned the song. The controversy was great publicity and sent the song up the charts. Joel recalled to the Metro newspaper July 6, 2006 about the controversy stirred up by this number: “That song was released as a single back in 1977, I think. It was not really doing very well, just languishing in the charts. Then it was banned by a radio station in New Jersey at a Catholic university. The minute the kids found out it was banned, they ran out in droves and it became a huge hit. If you tell kids they can’t have something, that’s what they want. I don’t understand the problem with the song. It’s about a guy trying to seduce a girl but, at the end of the song, she’s still chaste and pure and he hasn’t got anything. So I never understood what the furor was about. But I did write a letter to the archdiocese who’d banned it, asking them to ban my next record.”
Doesn’t it just figure … let this be a lesson, Governor DeSantis, that when you ban something, it becomes more desirable, more sought-after than ever! The song, though, only charted in Canada (#18) and the U.S. (#24), and as far as I can find, never charted in the UK or elsewhere across the big pond!
Billboard described Only the Good Die Young as one of Joel’s “strongest and catchiest” songs, while Cash Box said that “Billy grabs the fun with a rollicking, handclapping beat, raspy sax solo and racy piano licks.”
Earlier this year, Joel said of the song “It’s occurred to me recently that I’m trying to talk some poor innocent woman into losing her virginity because of my lust. It’s kind of a selfish song — like, who cares what happens to you? What about what I want?…But on the other hand, it was of its time. This was written in the mid-’70s, and I was trying to seduce girls. Why bulls— about it?”
Only The Good Die Young
Billy Joel
Come out, Virginia, don’t let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one
Well, they showed you a statue, told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done
Well, only the good die young
That’s what I said
Only the good die young
Only the good die young
You mighta heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain’t too pretty, we ain’t too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
Aw, but that never hurt no one
So come on, Virginia, show me a sign
Send up a signal, I’ll throw you the line
The stained-glass curtain you’re hiding behind
Never let’s in the sun
Darlin’, only the good die young
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
I tell ya only the good die young
Only the good die young
You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
Mmm, and a cross of gold
But, Virginia, they didn’t give you quite enough information
You didn’t count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
Oh-whoa-whoa
And they say there’s a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it’s better, but I say it ain’t
I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun
You know that only the good die young, oh, baby
I tell ya only the good die young
Only the good die young
Said your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
Aw, she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?
Oh-whoa-whoa
Come out, come out, come out, Virginia, don’t let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one
You know that only the good die young
Tell you, baby
You know that only the good die young
Only the good die young
Only the good
Only the good die young
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-hoo
Ooh-ooh-hoo-hoo
Only the good die young
Only the good die young
Tonight my mood had flown south … I wasn’t grumpy so much as just feeling useless. So, I went in search of a song for tonight, and as I was listening to this one, I felt this really odd sensation … my mouth … it was turning upward at the corners … what WAS that??? I do believe … yes, I was actually smiling!!! And I figure if this song can make me smile, it can make you smile, too! At least I hope so.
This song by Billy Joel first appeared on his 1978 album 52nd Street, and a single version was released in the fall of 1978.
My Life was used as the theme song for the ABC television series Bosom Buddies starring Tom Hanks (1980–82), albeit in a re-recorded version with a different vocalist. However, due to licensing issues it does not appear on the VHS and DVD releases of the series, nor is it used in the show’s syndicated airings.
I don’t find much trivia about this song, but the one tidbit I found fun is that Chicago members Peter Cetera and Donnie Dacus performed the backing vocals and sang along with Billy Joel during the bridge and in the outro (“Keep it to yourself, it’s my life”).
My Life Billy Joel
Got a call from an old friend we’d used to be real close
Said he couldn’t go on the American way
Closed the shop, sold the house, bought a ticket to the west coast
Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A.
I don’t need you to worry for me ’cause I’m alright
I don’t want you to tell me it’s time to come home
I don’t care what you say anymore this is my life
Go ahead with your own life leave me alone
I never said you had to offer me a second chance
I never said I was a victim of circumstance
I still belong
Don’t get me wrong
And you can speak your mind
But not on my time
They will tell you you can’t sleep alone in a strange place
Then they’ll tell you can’t sleep with somebody else
Ah but sooner or later you sleep in your own space
Either way it’s O.K. you wake up with yourself
I don’t need you to worry for me ’cause I’m alright
I don’t want you to tell me it’s time to come home
I don’t care what you say anymore this is my life
Go ahead with your own life leave me alone
I never said you had to offer me a second chance
I never said I was a victim of circumstance
I still belong
Don’t get me wrong
And you can speak your mind
But not on my time
I don’t care what you say anymore this is my life
Go ahead with your own life leave me alone
I’m running late … again! So, while I had hoped to come up with something new tonight, it is 2:00 a.m., I haven’t even started responding to comments yet, and I’m pretty well wiped out, so let’s have us some Billy Joel tonight, shall we? I last played this in March 2020, nearly three years ago, so if you haven’t forgotten, just pretend you have!
Joel wrote this song about his first wife, Elizabeth. A pure expression of unconditional love, he gave it to her as a birthday present. Sadly, after nine years of marriage, Joel and Elizabeth divorced in 1982. Joel’s next two marriages didn’t work out either. He was married to Christie Brinkley from 1985-1994, and to Katie Lee from 2004-2010. I had a boss one time who had been married three times in about ten years, and after I worked for him for two years, I understood why. But, back to the song …
Says Mr. Joel …
“Every time I wrote a song for a person I was in a relationship with, it didn’t last. It was kind of like the curse. Here’s your song – we might as well say goodbye now.”
This won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 1979 ceremony. It was a breakthrough for Joel, whose biggest hit to this point was Piano Man, which reached #25 in the US.
“I was absolutely surprised it won a Grammy. It wasn’t even rock ‘n’ roll, it was like a standard with a little bit of R&B in it. It reminded me of an old Stevie Wonder recording.”
Barry White’s cover version hit #12 in the UK in 1978. The song was also covered by Frank Sinatra and Isaac Hayes. Now, since about half of my regular readers hail from outside the U.S., most from the UK, Canada or Australia, I thought I should check out the Barry White version, and I absolutely loved it. So, I was going to play both Billy Joel’s and Barry White’s, right? And then … I happened upon yet another version that … well, I simply could not resist. It is sung by Billy Joel, but in a slightly different venue and with slightly different lyrics … but it made me SMILE! So, you get three versions … pick one or listen to all … I don’t care, just so long as you SMILE!
Just The Way You Are Billy Joel
Don’t go changing to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don’t imagine you’re too familiar
And I don’t see you anymore
I wouldn’t leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times; I’ll take the bad times
I’ll take you just the way you are
Don’t go trying some new fashion
Don’t change the color of your hair
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care
I don’t want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are
I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew
What will it take till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you?
I said I love you and that’s forever
And this I promise from the heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are
I last (and only) played this one three years ago, but it’s one of those songs like John Lennon’s Imagine that is timeless. The lyrics are a stream of consciousness list of more than 100 events that Joel felt his generation was not responsible for. Many of the references are to the Cold War (U.S. vs. Russia), a problem his generation inherited.
Joel says he got the idea for the song after a conversation with his friend, Sean Lennon, son of Beatle John Lennon, on the event of Sean’s 21st birthday, . The conversation went like this:
Lennon:It’s a terrible time to be 21!
Joel:Yeah, I remember when I was 21 – I thought it was an awful time and we had Vietnam, and y’know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed to be awful.
Lennon:Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties.
Joel:Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?
According to Joel …
I had turned forty. It was 1989 and I said “Okay, what’s happened in my life?” I wrote down the year 1949. Okay, Harry Truman was president. Popular singer of the day, Doris Day. China went Communist. Another popular singer, Johnnie Ray. Big Broadway show, South Pacific. Journalist, Walter Winchell. Athlete, Joe DiMaggio. Then I went on to 1950 … It’s one of the worst melodies I’ve ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.
Musically, the song does leave something to be desired. Blender magazine rated this the 41st worst song ever in its 2004 article “Run for Your Life! It’s the 50 Worst Songs Ever!” Comparing it to “a term paper scribbled the night before it’s due.”
But the song carries a message, and that overrides the flaws in the composition, at least for me it does.
My thanks to Keith and Ellen for reminding me of this song and its message …
We Didn’t Start the Fire Billy Joel
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, “The King and I” and “The Catcher in the Rye”
Eisenhower, vaccine, England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, “Rock Around the Clock”
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, “Peyton Place”, trouble in the Suez
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, “Bridge on the River Kwai”
Lebanon, Charlse de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide
Buddy Holly, “Ben Hur”, space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, “Psycho”, Belgians in the Congo
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
Hemingway, Eichmann, “Stranger in a Strange Land”
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
“Lawrence of Arabia”, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah’s in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
“Wheel of Fortune”, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China’s under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can’t take it anymore
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
When I played Billy Joel’s It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me on Friday, at least two people mentioned this song as being their favourite Billy Joel song, so … how could I not play it here? Annnnnndddd … I haven’t ever played this one before, so it’s not a redux!!!
According to SongFacts …
This is the opening track to Billy Joel’s album Glass Houses. Before the song starts, there is the sound of shattered glass to match the cover picture of Joel throwing a rock into the window of an all-glass house, a parody of the saying, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” This was Joel’s statement to his critics.
According to producer Phil Ramone, it took a lot of effort to achieve the shattered-glass effect. “We didn’t want a typical glass-break effect,” he explained in his 2007 book, Making Records: The Scenes Behind The Music. “We wanted the kind of sound that comes when a large plate glass window breaks, and there’s a split-second delay between the crack and the entire sheet crumbling to the ground.”
They placed sheets of glass on cinder blocks and smashed them with various types of hammers but none of them produced the right sound. Ramone was about to toss a few five-gallon jugs of drinking water down a stairwell – something he’d seen an engineer do to get a glass-breaking effect – when another engineer told him what the problem was: The glass was too thin. To achieve a bloodcurdling shatter, he needed to suspend panes of glass that were more than a quarter-inch thick.
“The following day I ordered the right glass,” Ramone recalled. “When it was delivered, I placed a piece over two wooden horses and smashed it from above. I miked the hell out of it; there were microphones all over the studio – above, below, to the right and left sides, far and near. It took nearly thirty sheets of glass, and the best-sounding take came on the last piece, with one crack of the hammer.
The time and expense was worth it: The harrowing glass-break we captured gave Glass Houses the pluperfect kickoff it deserves.”
The glass house featured on the cover was Joel’s own home in Cove Neck on Long Island. That explains why he didn’t actually throw the rock!
Joel tends to prefer his more obscure songs over his hits, but “You May Be Right” is one of his favorites. Speaking with Stephen Colbert in 2017, he listed it as one of his Top 5.
This song did well in Canada and the U.S., ranking #6 & #7 respectively, but doesn’t seem to have made a dent anywhere else.
You May Be Right
Billy Joel
Friday night I crashed your party
Saturday I said, “I’m sorry”
Sunday came and trashed me out again
I was only having fun
Wasn’t hurting anyone
And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change
I’ve been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive
But I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I’m insane
You may be right
I may be crazy
Oh, but it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
Well, remember how I found you there
Alone in your electric chair
I told you dirty jokes until you smiled
You were lonely for a man
I said, “Take me as I am”
‘Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while
Now think of all the years you tried to
Find someone to satisfy you
I might be as crazy as you say
If I’m crazy then it’s true
That it’s all because of you
And you wouldn’t want me any other way
You may be right
I may be crazy
Oh, but it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
It’s too late to fight
It’s too late to change me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
You may be right
I may be crazy
Hey, but It just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Oh, don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
You may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
I played this back in 2019 and tonight I’m playing it again … just because I wanted to! Yes, I know, I have a list as long as my arm of songs you guys have requested and I did look at the list tonight, but then … this one just popped into my head and …
Released in May 1980, this was one of Billy Joel’s most popular songs, and his first #1 hit on the Hot 100, spending two weeks at the top spot in July 1980. The single was certified Platinum, which at the time meant sales in excess of 2 million.
The song is a cynical look at the music industry as a publicist/manager begs the protagonist to remain hip for the younger crowd (“What’s the matter with the car I’m driving?” / “Can’t you tell that it’s out of style?”), and the protagonist’s refusal to change, claiming his music will remain relevant regardless of his appearance. The song was a reaction by Joel to the new music genres that were around in the late 1970s (punk, funk, new wave). It was inspired by Joel reading a review about a particular (unnamed) band, and realizing that he had no idea what their music sounded like.
I love the song, and especially love the saxaphone solo played by Richie Cannata.
It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me Billy Joel
What’s the matter with the clothes I’m wearing?
Can’t you tell that your tie’s too wide?
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?
Welcome back to the age of jive
Where have you been hidin’ out lately, honey?
You can’t dress this trashy till you spend a lot of money
Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout the new sound
Funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me
What’s the matter with the car I’m driving?
Can’t you tell that it’s out of style?
Should I get a set of white wall tires?
Are you gonna cruise a miracle mile?
Nowadays you can’t be too sentimental
Your best bet’s a true baby-blue Continental
Hot funk, cool punk, even if it’s old junk
It’s still rock and roll to me
Oh, it doesn’t matter what they say in the papers
‘Cause it’s always been the same old scene
There’s a new band in town but you can’t get the sound
From a story in a magazine
Aimed at your average teen
How about a pair of pink sidewinders
And a bright orange pair of pants?
Well, you could really be a Beau Brummel, baby
If you just give it half a chance
Don’t waste your money on a new set of speakers
You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It’s still rock and roll to me
Alright
Ooh, what’s the matter with the crowd I’m seeing?
Don’t you know that they’re out of touch?
Well, should I try to be a straight-A student?
If you are then you think too much
Don’t you know about the new fashion, honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lotta money
It’s the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It’s still rock and roll to me
Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout the new sound
Funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me
I have reduxed this one every year since I first played it in … I think 2018. It carries a message that we all need to hear from time to time. Right now, all over the world, troubles abound. Thinking of Ukraine and Ukrainians at the moment, with their struggles to save their country from an evil wanna-be emperor. Climate change is bringing disastrous effects to people around the globe, to food and water supplies, and the list goes on. Here in the U.S., we are grieving for the lives lost over the past month in multiple mass shootings, especially the lives of 19 children lost in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Our politicians are playing the already massive divide, further dividing us and some are attempting to subjugate the people of the U.S. to a dictatorial leader. People all over the globe are suffering in one way or another, and so tonight I play this one for everyone, to remind us that … we all share this planet, that we must come together, find ways to mend our fences, to overcome our differences.
One of the times I played this, our friend John Howell provided a tidbit that I wasn’t aware of at the time …
“I loved the Michael Jackson comment to all the stars that were in studio for the “We are the World” recording session. He said that egos were to be left at the door and that anyone who had a problem with that would be driven home…by Stevie Wonder.”
I don’t imagine too many egos were on display after that!!!
This song … it is what we need today … and every day. Please listen and enjoy.
Hello my friends. With a heavy heart tonight, I was not going to do a music post, but two special people convinced me, without realizing that they had a thing to do with it, to do one … and this one in particular. I shall explain …
A few nights ago, I was chatting via email with our friend Ellen, and she noted that while sometimes one doesn’t feel that they have a song in their heart, they should … sing anyway! Tonight, I felt as if I had no song in my heart, and really, I just wanted to go to bed. But, somewhere in my head, I heard Ellen saying, “C’mon, Filosofa … sing anyway!”
This was a benefit single for victims of famine in Africa. It raised over $60 Million, which was distributed to Ethiopia, Sudan, and other impoverished countries.
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote this song, and Quincy Jones produced it. This talented trio was perfect for the job: Quincy Jones was the hottest producer around, and his Rolodex (what would now be a contact list) was filled with the biggest names in music; Richie had written songs that went to #1 on the Hot 100 each of the previous seven years (“We Are The World” made it eight); Michael Jackson had the biggest album of 1984 with Thriller (produced by Jones) and was the biggest star in the world.
The USA For Africa project began as an idea calypso singer Harry Belafonte had for a benefit concert featuring black musicians. In late December 1984, looking for artists to participate, Belafonte called Ken Kragen, who managed an impressive roster of talent, including Lionel Richie. Kragen convinced Belafonte that they could raise more money and make a bigger impact with an original song; Belafonte agreed and Richie came on board to help.
Kragen asked Quincy Jones to produce, and Jones enlisted Michael Jackson. Richie got Stevie Wonder involved, and from there, word got out and many members of the music industry signed on to help. The project from conception to recording took about a month.
This all-star charity single was inspired by Band Aid, the British group Bob Geldof put together the year before to record Do They Know It’s Christmas?. Band Aid, which included Bono, Phil Collins, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, and Sting, served as a template, showing how a disparate group of famous artists could come together in one day to record a song.
The stars who sang solos were, in order, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Michael Jackson (again), Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, and Kim Carnes. Bob Dylan and Ray Charles were also featured on the song and given close-ups in the video.
Harry Belafonte, who had the original idea for the project, was in the chorus but didn’t get a solo, joining Bette Midler, Smokey Robinson, The Pointer Sisters, LaToya Jackson, Bob Geldof, Sheila E., and Waylon Jennings as backing singers.
Quincy Jones was responsible for managing the egos of all the stars. It went very smoothly considering some very famous people did not get to sing a line. Most of the singers knew Jones personally and respected his wishes that they check their egos at the door.
Just goes to show what we can accomplish when people of all sorts come together for a common cause. I think … though the cause is different … this song has just as much meaning for our world today as it did when it was released in 1985, some 34 years ago, don’t you?
We Are the World U.S.A. for Africa
There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
Oh, and it’s time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can’t go on
Pretending day-by-day
That someone, somewhere soon make a change
We’re all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
Oh, send them your heart
So they know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
And so we all must lend a helping hand
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
Oh, there’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
When you’re down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there’s no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well let us realize
Oh, that a change can only come
When we stand together as one, yeah, yeah, yeah
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
We are the world (are the world)
We are the children (are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day, so let’s start giving (so let’s start giving)
There is a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
Oh, let me hear you!
We are the world (we are the world)
We are the children (said we are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day so let start giving (so let’s start giving)
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me, come on now, let me hear you
We are the world (we are the world)
We are the children (we are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day so let’s start giving (so let’s start giving)
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me, yeah
We are the world (we are the world)
We are the children (we are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day so let’s start giving (so let’s start giving)
There’s a choice we’re making
And we’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
We are the world (are the world)
We are the children (are the children)
We are the ones who’ll make a brighter day so let’s start giving (so let’s start giving)
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
We are the world, we are the world (are the world)
We are the children, yes sir (are the children)
We are the ones that make a brighter day so let’s start giving (so let’s start giving)
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me, ooh-hoo!
We are the world (dear God) (are the world)
We are the children (are the children)
We are the ones that make a brighter day so let’s start giving (all right, can you hear what I’m saying?)
There’s a choice we’re making, we’re saving our own lives
I realized too late last week that Saturday had come and gone and I hadn’t even thought of a Saturday Surprise post, so I vowed not to make the same mistake this week! I hope you are all having a safe and relaxing weekend so far. We are, as usual, staying in this weekend, with daughter Chris going out to pick up a few things and a carryout dinner later this evening.
I found some interesting and fun facts over at Bored Panda and I picked 10 of them to share on this post, but if you still want more, I suggest you head on over and see all 50 of them!
I can ABSOLUTELY believe this one!!!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and that you find something to bring you laughter and joy!
Filosofa's Word 